Lesson 05 - Turn

Turn

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:5)

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”(Romans 12:1)

Introduction

The ultimate sacrifice. What does it mean to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices”? It is all related to the cross.

Mat 10:38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

If it is not clear just what Jesus is talking about to you, you are in good company. This exchange recorded in Luke is the third time Jesus spoke of His death on the cross.

Luk 18:31-34 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. (32) He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; (33) they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." (34) The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

A Reasonable person would conclude that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. He would not be telling His disciples that they needed to carry a Roman cross when following Jesus.

Paul appears to be the first that understood what Jesus was saying.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul understood Jesus's words to mean that we should set aside self and replace self with the Holy Spirit as our driving force.

Gal 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Displacing self with the Holy Spirit, being spirit led instead of passion and desire (flesh) led is the key to taking up our cross and following Christ. And that in itself is the key to recovery.

Turn

Let’s look at tonight’s acrostic for the answer to that question.

Trust

Understand

Repent

New life

This step ends with new life, but you must first take three actions before that life can be yours. You must trust, understand, and repent.

T - TRUST

Romans 10:9 (GNB): “If you declare with your lips, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This sounds like a neat formula for salvation, and this is a good starting point, but trust goes deeper than that. We don't just want eternal life in the future, we want life in the hear and now.

Trust leads to reliance, we give our selves to Him, and rely on Him who is proven to be trustworthy. Reliance leads to confidence, and confidence leads to walking in understanding, and walking in understanding leads to wisdom.

My mind has adjusted to a new reality, one that provides confidence of life after death with Christ in heaven, and transformation here on earth.

The active agent bringing transformation is hearing the Word about Christ.

Rom_10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

And that brings us to the next letter, U for Understand.

U - UNDERSTAND

Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Understanding comes through the ingestion of God's Word.

1Pe 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (3) now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Milk is the product of cows. Cows chew their cud. They provide a good example for us of how we should be “eating” God's word. Cows savor the grass in it's mouth, chewing it down. Then it regurgitates it back up re-working it again. This is a great picture of how humans extract understanding out of God's word.

Psa 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Psa 49:1-3 Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, (2) both low and high, rich and poor alike: (3) My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

Pro 1:23 Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.

And that leads to the letter R, for Repent.

The third letter in our acrostic, R, stands for REPENT.

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed” (Romans 12:2, PH).

The English word Repentance is actually translated in different places in scripture from 5 different OT and NT words. Understanding the context in which repentance is used is important.

Most of the Hebrew and Greek words convey a meaning that speaks of an emotional response to sin, such as sorrow, accompanied by a conscious moral decision to forsake sin and turn, or return to God.

But there is a Greek word, “metanoio”, that is almost always used in the NT. This word means “to change the mind”. It is related to another word, “metamorfoo”, which is translated “transformed”. “Metamorfoo” is where we get our English word, “metamorphosis”.

Transformation is something that is done to us, through having our mind renewed, not something we can accomplish ourselves.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Think about this.

With Trust we talked about how “The future is a present and invisible seen. I adjust to that in my mind.” It becomes my reality.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

When we come to God in repentance, we are asking for a transformation of our mind. (Rom 12:2). This NT usage of the word “metanoio” is not an expression of remorse or sorrow and a commitment of our own will to turn. Rather it is an expression leading us to submission to the Holy Spirit to allow Him to bring about a change of mind, a transformation.

A “turning” happens as a result of transformation, not the cause of it.

Why is it that this word “metanoio” is a NT term we don't find in the OT Hebrew?

Because it is the Holy Spirit that brings a change of mind, transformation, regeneration. In the OT, the Israelites could have the Holy Spirit come upon them for a purpose, then come back off, but they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit that we have today. The Holy Spirit wasn't poured out on all flesh in an indwelling fashion until after Jesus' Ascension.

Joh 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

This may provide you with a very different understanding of what Repentance is. When the Bible speaks of “repentance” in the NT, it is talking about having a mind change brought on by the indwelling Holy Spirit's work of transformation.

N - NEW Life

Romans 3:22 (TLB) says it well: “Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us ‘not guilty’—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins.”

We can trust Jesus. What does it mean to have faith. It means that when we surrender our mind to the Holy Spirit, He brings transformation and changes our minds. What we do is adjust our thinking to align with the changes He is bringing, both through His supernatural influence and through our study of His word, chewing the cud.

This change that occurs in our life is what it means to be a new creation.

2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Wrap-up

When Jesus told us to “take up your cross and follow me”, He was referring to something much greater than just identifying with His suffering. Paul referred to his being crucified with Christ as Christ in him. That is the only true way to turn, as we experience Christ in us.

Trust – Make Jesus' reality your reality. Adjust your mind to the truth of God's word.

Understand – Meditate so you have an understanding of what Jesus' reality actually is, and what your mind should be adjusted to.

Repentance – Allow the Holy Spirit to bring a change of mind, adjustment, through transformation. Your behavior will change as a result.

New Life – Experience a new reality, one in which you are an overcomer, and not overcome.

Altar Call

How can you become a participant in recovery? What is the first step?

First, we must know that we are a sinners.

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We must know that the wages of sin is death.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We must know that Christ the Savior died for us and for our sins while we were in our sinful state.

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Salvation is a free gift from God, through Christ.

Rom 3:24-25 ... all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood--to be received by faith.

These truths about our redemption are where our trust must be placed.

Lesson 06 - Action

 Action

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:5)

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Introduction

When we get to Principle 3, we have worked, with God’s help, the first two principles to the best of our ability. We admitted our lives were out of control and unmanageable (Denial and Powerless), and we came to believe that God could restore us to sanity (Hope, Sanity and Turn).

The next lesson is “Action”. Action takes our belief in what God says and turns it into wisdom.

Wisdom is defined as “Action based on an accurate understanding of reality”. The first 5 lessons provide a biblical understanding of reality. Taking action based on what we learned makes us into wise people.

So far everything we have talked about in Steps 1-3 are dealing with the way we think. So our journey so far has begun with coming out of denial, I can do it myself, I don't need any help, I'm good, and recognizing that we are powerless, I can't do it myself, I do need help, I'm not good.

When we see and admit that we need help, hope arrives in our heart (yes, I can see the possibilities) as we begin to see that sanity (soundness of mind) is a possibility. Soundness of mind comes about through Holy Spirit empowered turning of our mind.

So now we come to the first lesson that actually deals with transformative behavior change.

Action follows the turning of our mind. If we want a behavior change, we start with a mind change and behavior change follows.

Wise behavior follows a Biblical mind change.

Dead faith consists of a change of mind (belief) with no behavior change (action). We can have faith that is not activated.

Living faith consists of both a change of mind (belief) and a change of behavior (action).

Jas 1:25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it--not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it--they will be blessed in what they do.

The “perfect law” in this context is the good news that gives us hope, it is what we are talking about tonight. It is the Word itself taken in and digested.

James is careful to tell us that when we put into “action” what we are hearing then we will be blessed. Not just hearers, but doers.

What we want to understanding in this step is what James means when he says that we are to put into action what we are hearing. What is that action, and what roles do the Holy Spirit and us have in the “doing”.

Action

Let’s look at tonight’s acrostic: ACTION.

Accept

Commit

Turn it over

It’s only the beginning

One day at a time

Next step

A - ACCEPT Jesus Christ as your Higher Power and Savior!

Romans 10:9 (GNB) God’s Word tells us, “If you declare with your lips, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This passage speaks about believing “in our heart”. The term “heart” is defined in Strongs Bible Dictionary as:

“the heart, that is, (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind);”

Our “heart” is the sum of our character traits. It is who we are as a person. It is what people see when they interact with us.

Accepting Jesus “into our heart” means to have Him and His Word permeate us and mix with who we are so that who we are as a person undergoes transformation. This sort of introduction of the Holy Spirit into our character, who we are as a person, results in behavior change and we become a new creation (or as Pastor Greg said yesterday, a “new creature”).

The idea of “baptism” conveys the same meaning. Baptism means “immersed” in Christ. The baptism event conveys to the public that you have made a commitment to introduce Christ into the sum of our character and who you are as a person with the intent to undergo transformation.

Transformation happens as we take action based on that commitment.

Accepting Jesus into our heart, to be mixed with who we are as persons, in the manner that baptismal immersion illustrates is a reality that cannot help but bring about a change to our thought life. Actions will change as a result of this sort of thought life change.

C – Commit to Seek and Follow His Will

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground” (Psalm 143:10).

This is a prayer asking for God to teach us how to be doers. We learn to be doers as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us. The Holy Spirit leads us when we take the action to read God's Word and allow it to change the way we think, gather with other believers, pray and listen to God, and so on.

Our action here is to seek out and do what it takes to cause our heart to become immersed in Christ, so that we can know what His will is, and do it.

T - TURN it over.

“Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens” (Matthew 11:28–30, TLB).

The context of this passage is the condition of the Jews who were worn out due to a long and hard struggle carrying the heavy burden of the Mosaic Law, the difficulty of which was compounded by the incorrect understanding and application of the law by the scribes and Pharisees.

Mat 23:4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."

So we find a similar application in principle in this passage wherein we are also weary and worn out from our own struggles with our own issues and difficulties. Like the Jews that were under the Law of Moses, we will find relief through discipleship in Christ and learning His Kingdom standards (Sermon on the Mount), and turning our lives over to Him.

Being a disciple of Jesus and following His ways will lighten our burdens.

I - IT’S only the beginning.

Philippians 1:6 (TLB) “God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished.”

And ...

O - ONE day at a time.

“Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34, TLB).

As Christians, we are all at various stages in this process. Those who are newcomers to the concept of transformation need to know that you are just at the beginning stages, and that this is a life long process. This is good news, because the results of the process keep getting better and better. Don't let your courage slip away as you think about this. Take it one day at a time.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

N - NEXT step (Wrap Up)

The next step is to ask Jesus into your life to be your Higher Power.

• First, we must know that we are a sinners.
  Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

• We must know that the wages of sin is death.
  Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• We must know that Christ the Savior died for us and for our sins while we were in our sinful state.
  Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• Salvation is a free gift from God, through Christ.
  Rom 3:24-25 ... all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood--to be received by faith.

Lesson 12 - Confess

 Confess

Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

“Happy are the pure in heart.” (Matthew 5:8)

Step 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)

Introduction

For the last month and a half, we have been talking about our Inventories. The three steps consisting of Inventory, Spiritual Inventory 1 and Spiritual Inventory 2 consist of thinking back through out life to those that we have hurt, and the hurts that we have experienced from others, and making a list.

Going through this process, especially if this is your first time through this process, can seem overwhelming when viewed as a whole, and in some cases folks may think it is too painful to bring all this up again.

But healing comes from bringing things in the past to the surface in a safe place, within the context of an open share or 12 step group, along with a sponsor or accountability partners.

God has ordained that forgiveness comes from confessing our shortcomings to Him, and healing comes from confessing our shortcomings to others.

If we leave these things buried, deciding that it is more comfortable to leave these things unremembered, then neither forgiveness nor healing can take place. A partner such as a sponsor or accountability partner can help us press through and deal with these things so they don't keep affecting us from behind the scenes like a festering sore.

The writer to the Hebrews speaks about entering the promised land, a land of rest. He explains to us how to lay hold of this rest “Today”. In a very real sense, the words to the Hebrews speaking of a time of rest speaks directly to the issue of recovery, in that in “rest”, our struggle ceases. There are wonderful applications that we can draw from Hebrews that will guide us in our own search for recovery / rest.

Heb 3:12-15 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (13) But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. (14) We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. (15) As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

Heb 4:9-11 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; (10) for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (11) Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Heb 6:10-12 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (11) We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. (12) We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Heb 10:35-36 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (36) You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Celebrate Recovery takes us through the steps to reach the “promised land”, a place of rest where we find victory over our struggles. Those steps include finding a sponsor and engaging in a mentoring relationship with them, creating an inventory that we can bring before God, then confessing those things in our inventory for forgiveness from God and healing from others, and other steps that will be taught in the upcoming weeks such as admitting our shortcomings, getting ready to make amends, and making amends. All of these are our “work” to reach the promised land.

The best place to systematically do this work is within a 12 step group.

So let's look at the next step in the process that we have been discussing, Confess.

Confess

The first step is to CONFESS my wrongs. Tonight’s acrostic will show you just how to do that.

Confess your shortcomings, resentments, and sins

Obey God’s direction

No more guilt

Face the truth

Ease the pain

Stop the blame

Start accepting God

The C in confess is CONFESS your shortcomings, resentments, and sins.

Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Confession to God brings forgiveness, confession to others brings healing.

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Jas 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

The O in confess stands for OBEY God’s direction.

“‘As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God.’ Every one of us, then, will have to give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11–12, GNB).

This passage of scripture talks about the times of judgment for all people. Unbelievers will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15), and Old Testaments saints will be judged at the Sheep and Goat judgment at the second coming of Christ (Dan 12:1-2, Matt 24:36-42). Christians will have a special judgment for rewards following the Rapture of the church that will be based on our works here on earth.

One of the side benefits that we have as Christians for confessing our sin to God is that in the process we are storing treasure in heaven. Like investing, your storehouse in heaven is where future benefits are stored for your future use. The account that you have to give to God will determine your rewards (1Co 3:11-15). This should be an encouragement and hope that motivates us to good works of service.

1Ti 6:18-19 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. (19) In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Mat 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

The next letter is N: No more guilt.

“All have sinned; … yet God declares us ‘not guilty’ … if we trust in Jesus Christ, who freely takes away our sins” (Romans 3:23–24, TLB).

This process of confessing to God and to others is vital to restoring our confidence and our relationships. People describe it as a great burden being lifted off their backs when the inventory is shared with a sponsor or accountability partner. A feeling of peace and “rest” comes over them.

The process of confessing is a part of living in union with Christ. And one thing we know is that “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

After we “fess” up, we will have four positive changes in our lives. The first is that we will be able to FACE the truth.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

This is the first of four positives that result from confession. That the act of confession results in being set free is a spiritual law that God has decreed. As we come to know this truth, the practice of it will set us free from the grips of our sin and addictions. Being “set free” can be compared to what the writer to the Hebrews calls “rest”.

Note the preceding verse:

Joh 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

When we confess, we are holding to Jesus's teachings, and those teachings will set us free.

Have you ever noticed that a person who speaks the truth is always at ease? The next positive change that confession brings is to EASE the pain.

Psalm 32:3–5 (TLB) says, “There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration.… My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess them to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

The second positive that results from our confession is a healthy self-worth when the Lord removes our guilt. Remember, “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). The expression of freedom is pictured as our “rest” in the “promised land” as our guilt is taken away by God's forgiveness.

The first S in confess reminds us that we can now STOP the blame.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:3 (PH): “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a plank in your own? … Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.”

This passage is speaking of the hypocrisy of judging others when we do the same things, like the pot calling the kettle black. People who do this have a spirit that is constantly fault finding and severely critical, always pointing and accusing. Such a person is carried away by his actions, he can't help himself, and it is an unhappy disturbing way of life.

This brings up a third benefit that results from our confession. As our guilt is removed, our desire to separate our selves from our sin by blaming others grows less and less as we experience forgiveness for that sin. We no longer have a desire to project the sin onto others, and no longer blame others. The fault finding and critical spirit diminishes. We become increasingly at peace and serenity becomes a dominant trait in our lives.

Finally, the last S shows us that it is time to START accepting God’s forgiveness.

“For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out” (2 Corinthians 5:19, TLB).

The forth benefit that results from our confession can be expressed as:

“In confession we open our lives to the healing, reconciling, restoring, uplifting grace of Jesus Christ who loves us in spite of ourselves.”

All we have to do is accept it.

Wrap-up

This lesson on “Confess” will hopefully enable you to look forward to doing your inventories. Recording an inventory and thinking about what you are going to do with it once you have it down on paper can be daunting. This lesson was meant to help put you at ease with the process, one step at a time. Once you have your inventories recorded, it's time to confess, and in confessing, there is freedom.

In two weeks, Mike will discuss the how-tos of finding a person with whom you can share your inventory with the “Admit” lesson as we take small steps to learning how to bring our recovery about.

And don't forget, these principles are the same for all people, whether we suffer from addictions or we are just looking to learn how to be set apart for God's use. Celebrate Recovery is for the whole church.

Lesson 08 - Moral

 

Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

“Happy are the pure in heart.” (Matthew 5:8)

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:40)

Introduction

This evening we will be talking about listing out a Moral Inventory.

The first 6 lessons have prepared us for this step. We have learned about coming out of Denial, recognizing we are Powerless, and learning that our Hope is in Christ. We learned that in Christ we can achieve Sanity, by Turning to our hope, Christ, and putting into Action what we are learning.

Tonight we are starting a series of 4 lessons on how to do an inventory. An inventory is simply a list of issues that we want to focus on and deal with in our recovery.

The best time to work on this is during a 12 Step group. However, this can be done any time.

If there are no 12 step groups available, you could work on this with a sponsor or accountability partner.

If you are willing to do that, you might want to open it up to some other men or women.

If you are willing to do that, you might want to start a new 12 step group and do all 12 steps.

The first of the 4 lessons is the Moral Lesson. This is the theory, or the principles that re involved in doing an Inventory, such as making time, being open, relying on the Lord, and analyzing or thinking about your past. The last of the acrostic letters in this lesson is "LIST". We talk about the reason and benefits of making a list, and actually start the list in the next lesson. We will talk more about this "Moral" lesson tonight.

The second of the 4 lessons is the Inventory Lesson. In this lesson we actually step through the Inventory form and actually begin to make a list. We cover the columns on the form with headings such as the person, the cause, the effect, the damage and my part.

The third and forth of the 4 lessons brainstorming sessions that provide lots of ideas for what kinds of things we might want to work on. Things such as relationships, priorities, our attitudes, integrity the first week, and our mind, our body, our family and our church the second week.

So lets start with the first of the Inventory lessons, MORAL.

Make time

Open (Honest and Transparent)

Rely (on Jesus to Take You Through the Inventory)

Analyze (think about, meditate, connect dots)

List (why a list?)

First you need to MAKE time.

Schedule an appointment with yourself. Set aside a day or a weekend and get alone with God! God tells us in Job:

Job 33:33 (TLB): “Listen to me. Keep silence and I will teach you wisdom!”

An example of “making an appointment with God” is found in the story of the woman with the issue of blood.

Mat 9:20-22 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. (21) She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." (22) Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed at that moment.

The Woman made time to go to where Jesus was, and get as close as she could to Him. There is a strong lesson to be learned in this activity on the part of the woman. In faith she believed, and her belief was fulfilled in her actions. So it is with recovery.

The next letter in MORAL, O, stands for OPEN.

“Let me express my anguish. Let me be free to speak out of the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11, TLB).

“Open” simply means to make your inventory honest and transparent before God. When we are open we give the Holy Spirit more to work with.

Psa 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (24) See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Healing comes through confession to each other.

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Some areas that we could consider when making our list.

What do I feel convicted about?

Don't confuse this with guilt. Guilt leads to self condemnation, “I'm no good”, “I can't do anything”, “I'm doomed” like an adversary accusing us. Conviction is something that the Holy Spirit uses to motivate us to a better place like a parent teaching their children.

What do I resent?

Resentment results from burying our hurts, and has the effect of creating a wall between ourselves and others. A wall between ourselves and others creates a wall between ourselves and God.

Luk 6:37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

What are my fears?

Fear prevents us from expressing ourselves honestly and taking an honest moral inventory.

Joshua 1:9 (GNB) tells us, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.”

Am I trapped in self-pity, alibis, and/or dishonest thinking?

These are all just excuses.

The next letter is R, which stands for RELY.

Rely on Jesus to give you the courage and strength this step requires. “Come to Him”!

Isa 40:28-31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (29) He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (30) Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; (31) but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

You can renew your strength with His help. We should be sure enough about this to put our faith in it and believe we can rely on Him to bring about change.

Psalm 31:23–24 (TLB) tells us: “Oh, love the Lord, all of you who are his people; for the Lord protects those who are loyal to him.… So cheer up! Take courage if you are depending on the Lord.”

Now you are ready to ANALYZE your past honestly.

Proverbs 20:27 (GNB) says, “The Lord gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves.”

Analyze is defined as:

1) to separate into constituent parts or elements; determine the elements or essential features of

2) to examine critically, so as to bring out the essential elements or give the essence of

3) to examine carefully and in detail so as to identify causes, key factors, possible results, etc.

Another word that can be used with “analyze” is “meditate”. As we think about these things, connecting dots, we realize that true insight comes in the meditation of the Lord and His works in our lives.

Psa 49:1-3 For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, (2) both low and high, rich and poor alike: (3) My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

Psa 119:15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

Psa_119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.

The issues that we are dealing with today are directly related to our relationship with the Lord's decrees. We will find so many connected dots between either ignorance of or rejection of His decrees and the issues we face in this life.

The Lord's decrees are the spiritual principles that He built the universe with, how things work.

L in moral: LIST.

This lesson is about getting a start in practical application of what we are learning step by step. By writing an inventory down, we are able to break the issues down into parts and identify the connections between our past behaviors and the causes of them. We can then be specific in addressing our issues and praying about them.

Lamentations 3:40 tells us, “Let us examine our ways and test them.”

One final thing that we will hear about is a balanced inventory. On the form you will have the opportunity to list both good accomplishments as well as issues we are still working on.

Wrap Up

We have heard the verse that states “greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world”.

1Jn_4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [the spirit in the world], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Our strength comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. Without the Holy Spirit in us, we are weaker than the world.

When you accept the provision that God made for you, dying on the cross, His Spirit comes to make His dwelling in you, and THAT is what enables your recovery.

1Co 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body--whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

If you have never accepted Christ, do it tonight.